The sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks was executed on Wednesday to the relief of survivors and victims' families, nearly four years after 166 people died in the three-day rampage.

Pakistani-born Mohammed Kasab, aged 25, was hanged for his role in the assaults that targeted luxury hotels, a Jewish center, a hospital and a bustling train station in Mumbai.

The hunt for brain injury treatments has suffered a big disappointment in a major study that found zero benefits from a supplement that the U.S. military had hoped would help wounded troops.

The supplement is marketed as a memory booster online and in over-the-counter powders and drinks. It is also widely used by doctors in dozens of countries to treat traumatic brain injuries and strokes, although evidence on whether it works has been mixed.

A New Zealand volcano used as a backdrop to "The Lord of the Rings" films erupted on Wednesday, spewing a column of ash three kilometers (1.9 miles) above the North Island, scientists said.

Vulcanologists said Mount Tongariro rumbled to life at 1:25 pm (0025 GMT), in a five-minute burst that briefly closed roads, put aviation authorities on high alert and sent nearby hikers scrambling for safety.

Two-thirds of high-street garments tested in a study by Greenpeace contained potentially harmful chemicals, the group said Tuesday, highlighting the findings with a "toxic" fashion show in Beijing.

The environmental campaign group is pushing for fashion brands to commit to "zero discharge of all hazardous chemicals" by 2020 and to require suppliers to publicise any toxic chemicals they release into the environment.

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been appointed an ambassador of the U.N.'s program on HIV and AIDS and has been tasked with fighting discrimination against people living with the disease, the agency said Tuesday.

“It is a great honor to be chosen as a champion for people who live on the fringes of society and struggle every day to maintain their dignity and basic human rights," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said in a statement.

Zao Wou-ki, the abstract painter who has been described as China's greatest living artist, is at the center of a bitter legal feud between his third wife and his son from a previous marriage.

At the heart of a battle ripping the family apart lies the contested ownership of eight works worth millions of dollars.

South Sudanese troops attacked a rebel base in the latest violence in troubled Jonglei state, killing at least 19 rebels for the loss of one soldier, officials said Wednesday.

Troops launched an attack on a base of rebel commander David Yau Yau on Monday, firing "rocket-propelled grenades and mortar shells,” said army spokesman Philip Aguer.

A New York police officer accused of plotting cannibalism had no intention of actually eating his victims -- it was all in his mind, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Gilberto Valle, a promising six-year veteran of the New York Police Department, may have sounded scary during extensive online chats with other men about kidnapping and eating up to 100 women, but he was never dangerous, Julia Gatto said in Manhattan federal court.

An online video featuring cartoon creatures killing themselves in a variety of ways as part of an Australian transport safety campaign has gone viral, with almost 12 million YouTube views in a week.

The Melbourne Metro Trains video "Dumb Ways to Die" has been shared widely on social media since being uploaded to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw) seven days ago and the clip and jingle have been especially popular in Asian countries.

Iran bears a "heavy responsibility" in conflicts in the Middle East, especially in Gaza, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday.

Speaking specifically of Gaza, where a week of violence has claimed more than 140 lives, Fabius said: "There are long-range weapons up to 75 kilometers (45 miles) and these are Iranian weapons. Iran bears a heavy responsibility.